Your Guide to Anything and Everything Boston

Recession, recession everywhere. Everyone is getting beat up, from individuals to huge corporations. As of last week, the company that holds the leases for three of the locations in Faneuil Hall Marketplace is in a wee bit of trouble.

General Growth Properties Inc., the second-largest US mall operator, is offering to sell the rights to operate Faneuil Hall, as well as two other well-known East Coast tourist destinations, South Street Seaport in Manhattan and Harborplace & the Gallery on Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

Faneuil Hall Marketplace is one of Boston's top tourist attractions, and its sale will be closely watched by city officials, merchants, and rival operators. The marketplace consists of four buildings owned by the City of Boston, including the Quincy, North, and South markets. General Growth operates those three, and is selling its lease-hold interests at the marketplaceThe city itself owns and runs the fourth building, Faneuil Hall, a historic venue for some of the country's most prominent orators.

According to the article, they've got until February 12th to refinance $900 million in debt. No word on what the three buildings are priced at. It'll be interesting to see who steps up to the plate and what (if any) sort of changes the new owner makes.